The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Apartment building has new name after $103M sale
NORWALK — The second-largest apartment building in the city’s historic downtown has been renamed The Confluence at Norwalk, after its original developer flipped during the spring to a new owner based in New Jersey.
Located on Belden Avenue a few blocks north of Wall Street, Avalon Norwalk was built in 2010 by AvalonBay, part of an apartment boom over the span of a decade in Connecticut by the Arlington, Va.-based giant. The building helped anchor a revival of the city’s historic core that included the Head of the Harbor apartments and the Wall Street Theater.
Avalon Norwalk listed 311 apartments at the time of the sale to Living Emerald, which marked its Connecticut entry with the deal. For move-in dates in October and beyond, Apartment.com lists monthly rents for available units at The Confluence at Norwalk ranging between $2,150 and $2,820.
AvalonBay has sold off multiple Connecticut properties the past few years, including in December 2020 when Clarion Partners spent $35 million for what is known now as White Oaks at Wilton.
Living Emerald was formed in 2018 in Lakewood, N.J. by CEO Gary Kassirer. The firm has nine large apartment buildings in New Jersey, New York City, Dallas and St. Louis, Mo., along with more than 60 smaller apartments in the Bronx section of New York City that add up to 1,800 units.
A company representative declined to comment on the purchase of the Norwalk apartments and its outlook.
The pandemic triggered a housing boom in Connecticut, as New York City renters and condo owners moved to the suburbs as their employers signaled a willingness to keep remote working arrangements in place.
The renewed interest did not derail AvalonBay from cashing out of the Norwalk building, with its CEO telling investment analysts in July it expects urban apartment life to rebound as office employers edge closer to pre-pandemic norms. But he added that AvalonBay rents nationwide are 8 percent higher today on average than at its previous peak in 2019, and noted development blueprints for future projects in the suburban New York City region.
“From my perspective, COVID’s not really changing our view of the markets — these markets are really formed by how we think they’re going to perform over the next 20 to 30 years,” AvalonBay CEO Tim Naughton said in July.
In August, AvalonBay reported a $48.9 million gain on the sale of Avalon Norwalk, factoring in the sale transaction and rental revenue over the years offset by construction and operating costs. The sale left the company with four remaining Connecticut complexes bearing the Avalon name, in East Norwalk, Darien, New Canaan and Wilton.
Other apartment complexes have changed hands of late, including last year in Norwalk where Carmel Partners sold to Invictus Real Estate Partners The Waypointe, a 464-unit building on West Avenue with a retail and restaurant courtyard. City records list the transaction at $157 million.
Invictus followed on that deal early this year with the $70 million tandem purchase of the adjacent Berkeley and Quincy Lofts apartment buildings, which total nearly 200 units. The Berkeley, Waypointe and Quincy Lofts buildings are located a few blocks from Interstate 95 and The SoNo Collection mall just beyond.